(To view a video of the inauguration, visit umw.edu/inauguration. )
The University of Mary Washington celebrated the Inauguration of Judy G. Hample as its eighth president on Friday, April 3 at George Washington Hall, Dodd Auditorium.
The program included remarks from Virginia Secretary of Education Thomas R. Morris, Virginia Speaker of the House William J. Howell, Virginia Senator Edd Houck, Fredericksburg Mayor Thomas Tomzak, Indiana University President Emeritus Adam W. Herbert and South Korea’s Sungshin Women’s University President Hwa Jin Shim.
During the Installation Ceremony, Dr. Hample told some 1,100 faculty, students and guests that she was honored to be the first woman president of the only public university in America named for a woman. The greatest challenge and opportunity in the 21st century will be to nurture the institution into a mature university.
“Believing in this institution and our core values will be our task for the years ahead,” Dr. Hample said. “In times of economic challenge we will be called upon in unprecedented ways to sacrifice and do so without wavering on our principles.”
She said the university will continue to follow the guiding principles of quality, diversity and inclusion, collaboration, authenticity and accountability to embrace a culture of excellence and a proud legacy.
Dr. Hample said the university adhere’s to Voltaire’s philosophy that “the best is the enemy of the good.” “Our educational philosophy is grounded in the notion that every student must be challenged to fulfill his or her potential; to do less would be to fail in our mission,” she said.
On the subject of diversity, Dr. Hample noted the university should reflect the demographic realities and ideological viewpoints of the broader society.
“Our majority students need the insights and experiences which are derived from the opportunity to study, live, and learn with a population reflective of our overall society,” she said. “Providing educational opportunities and employment opportunities to individuals from underrepresented populations is the right thing to do and a responsibility given our role as a leading public university within Virginia and the region. Diversity and pluralism are essential ingredients to preparing our students to work and live in a global society; inclusion is critical to self-identity, understanding and acceptance.”
Dr. Hample cited the university’s outstanding interdisciplinary academic programs and envisions more possibilities for integrated learning.
“Customer service orientation in the handling of our student and employee services is a fruitful area for collaboration and cooperation,” she said. “Our institutional size affords us some unique opportunities to work together for the larger good, and my challenge to each of us will be to find ways to seize such opportunities whenever possible.”
Dr. Hample described herself as candid, straight-forward and transparent.
“In face of new information, I am not afraid to change my mind,” she said. “I filter a lot of discussions and arguments through principles and convictions—some might even say I’m passionate about some ideas.”
She also said that she and the university must be held accountable.
“I have a passion for results and accountability keeps us moving toward quality results,” she said. “Perseverance is essential in achieving goals and objectives, but the hallmark of leadership is accepting individual responsibility for outcomes and results. I hold myself the most accountable and responsible of all. To achieve a desired outcome, I can do what Lady Margaret Thatcher once wrote about her own abilities as a woman: “I’ve got …(the) ability to stick to a job and get on with it when everyone else walks off and leaves it.”
She challenged the university community to join together in building a culture of excellence.
“My vision and dream is that this great university will become a premier national university noted –and remembered — for excellence in undergraduate liberal arts and sciences, undergraduate research, required study abroad and leadership development. While continuing to attract high caliber undergraduate students from Virginia and around the world, the university also will increase its service to the Northern Virginia region by partnering more closely with business and industry to meet the increasing regional and Commonwealth workforce needs.”
Dr. Hample joined the university in July 2008. Prior to that time, she served as chancellor of Pennsylvania’s 14-campus, 110,000-student public university system. In addition, she was executive vice chancellor and then chancellor of the State University System of Florida.
As head of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE), Dr. Hample was responsible for an annual operating budget of $1.8 billion and more than 12,000 faculty and staff members. During her tenure, PASSHE made significant advancements in key areas related to student achievement, academic quality and operational effectiveness. Under her leadership, the state system of higher education made improvements in retention and graduation rates, academic advising, the first-time pass rate in students seeking teacher certification, freshman orientation programs and the hiring of faculty with terminal degrees appropriate to their disciplines. During that time, minority enrollment in the Pennsylvania public university system rose from 3.7 percent to 11.4 percent and the number of federal grants and contracts tripled. In addition, strides were made in library holdings, undergraduate and faculty research opportunities and funding for faculty development.
Dr. Hample has more than two decades of campus experience, as both a tenured faculty member and an academic administrator. She launched her career at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has held positions as assistant dean for the College of Arts and Sciences at Western Illinois University, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Emporia State University in Kansas, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Indiana State University and senior vice president for academic affairs at the University of Toledo in Ohio.
Dr. Hample earned a bachelor of arts degree in communication and secondary education from David Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn. She holds both a master’s and a doctoral degree in communication from The Ohio State University.